Terminology: Story Points

DEFINITION

1. The purpose of Story Points is to have a relative system. Story points are not meant to be a calculation. They are not equivalent to “hours” or “days” of time.

USAGE

1. Estimate Story Points.
   • Linear vs. Fibonacci Estimating.
   • Planning Cards (“Poker”).
2. Over time figure out Velocity.
3. Velocity will allow you to convert Story Points to hours.

Estimating Story Points

The process is simple. When you are starting from scratch,

Estimate size. Derive duration from the size.

1. Need to move 2000 bricks.
2. Wheelbarrow can move 20 bricks.
3. Three minutes to load wheelbarrow.
4. 2000/20 = 100 wheelbarrow loads.
5. 50 story points.
6. Derive duration = 100 * 3 mins = 300 mins

Example:

Painting a house. You have floor plan, but no dimensions.

Strategy 1: Identify the smallest room. Call that “1 story point”. Then calculate the other sizes based on the smallest room.

Strategy 2:

BENEFITS

• Important that the team agrees on the process. The process needs to work for the team. Different teams may have slightly different processes for estimating.

REFERENCES

• https://rubygarage.org/blog/how-to-estimate-with-story-points
• http://www.agilebuddha.com/agile/agile-estimation-8-steps-to-successful-story-point-estimation/
• https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/28432/story-point-estimation-value-based-instead-effort-based
• https://medium.com/serious-scrum/12-common-mistakes-made-when-using-story-points-f0bb9212d2f7

ALSO

KEY POINTS